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WhY MUST I MASTER REPORT WRITINg? 61
Initial Questionnaire
1. Who will read this report?
2. Why will that person/those people read this report?
3. What is the intent/objective/purpose of writing this report?
4. What are the problems, if any, that I must address in this report?
5. What do I want the reader of the report to know, learn, remember, or do?
6. What are the physical and intellectual resources I need to write the report suc-
cessfully?
Figure 5.1 Report-writing questionnaire
Rather than using a pre designed template, we suggest you do a bit of
research and learn how reports are formatted in your organization. Often,
there are standardized formats you are expected or required to use. Some-
times, reports are printed on company letterhead. Other times, you might
wish to insert into the header or footer the logo of your organization or
the logo of an external organization for which you are creating the report.
Once you’ve determined the expectations for the appearance of the
report, you are ready to move to the next step—your initial questionnaire.
Build your initial questionnaire (see Figure 5.1) and answer the questions
before you ever write one word of the report’s outline.
Never-Fail Outline for Business Reports
Now that you have the answers to the questions from your initial ques-
tionnaire, you are ready to build an outline. While every report is different,
there are some parts of the report that are relatively standard. Those pieces
are laid out for you below:
1. Executive Summary—While this section is the first in the report,
it will be the last thing you write. If you remember nothing else,
remember this: Often, the only parts of a report or proposal that
the executive reads are the Executive Summary and the Financials.
The executive summary should capture the who, what, when, where,
why, how, and how much of your entire report in no more than two
pages, preferably in one page.
2. Background Information—This section demonstrates your under-
standing of the situation, problem, or reason for writing the report.